Metro AG, Germany's largest retailer, plans to open as many as 10 stores in Egypt, boosting the number of countries where it does business to 32, according to two people familiar with the situation.

Metro will open its first Cash & Carry wholesale store in Cairo this year and as many as 10 stores in the country in the coming three to five years, the people said, speaking on condition they not be named as the plan hasn't been officially announced yet.

Egyptian Trade Minister Rachid Mohamed Rachid and Metro Cash & Carry Chief Executive Officer Frans Muller will announce the planned openings on Sunday at a World Economic Forum conference in Sharm Al Shaikh, Egypt. Kilian Roetzer, a spokesman for Duesseldorf-based Metro declined to comment.

Growth in emerging markets helped Metro, Europe's third- largest retailer, boost first-quarter operating profit 14 per cent even as domestic revenue weakened. Sales climbed 7.3 per cent, increasing 22 pe rcent in eastern Europe and advancing 0.9 per cent in Germany.

“Sixty per cent of revenue is made abroad and 72 per cent of profit,” Metro CEO Eckhard Cordes said May 16 at the company's annual general meeting. He expects an “upward trend” in the portion of revenue coming from outside Germany, he said.

Egypt has a population of 81.7 million and a growing middle class. Existing European retailers include Carrefour SA of France.





Source: Bloomberg